Combined tufting and spring-tying needle



Aug. 15, 1950 w. HEARST ETAL I 2,518,383

COMBINED TUFTING AND SPRING-TYING NEEDLE Filed April 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 William Hearst I Grace P/ackefi INVENIORS Aug. 5, 1950 w. HEARST EIAL 2,518,888

COMBINED TUFTING AND SPRING-TYING NEEDLE Filed April 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y Will/21m Hears! Grace P/ackefl INVENTORS Patented Aug. 15, 1950 COMBINED TUFTIN G AND SPRING-TYING NEEDLE William Hearst and GracePlackett,

Oakland, Calif.

Application April 5, 194a, SerialNo. 19,018

The present-invention relates to new and useful improvements in upholsterers needles and more particularly to a combined needle for use in tufting material, attaching tuftin buttons tothe material, or for'tying springs to upholstered furniture.

.An important object of the invention is to provide a needleconstructed to cary a thread fastening device tov the under side of the material whereby the thread may be anchored. to the material for use in tufting or other purposes and to further provide means for temporarily securing the fastener in position tothe. needle. for passing through the material and for quickly releasing the fastener'therefrom when the needle is withdrawn.

A still further object of the invention is. to pro-, vide a fastener for a tufting thread which automatically adjusts itself into an anchoring position when released from the. tufting needle and which secures the. thread to the under side of the material against accidental separation from the thread.

A still further object is to provide a device of 8 Claims. (01. 223-1-02-) 2 Figure 9 is a; top plan view showing the springs after being tiedby the thread;

Figure is a perspective view of another form of fasteners; and Figure 11 isa perspective view of another. fastener.

this character of simple and practical construction, whichv is efiicient and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive tomanufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes-'for'whichithe same is intended.

Otherobjects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference bei-ng had to theaccompa'nying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts-throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational viewshowing the thread fastener carried by the'needle for insertion in the needle;

Figure'2 is a similar view showing the needle and fastener passing through the material;

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the releasing and withdrawing action of the needle;

Figure 4 is a similar-view showing the fastener in its position for anchoring 'thethread;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of the needle with the fastener in position thereon;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the fasteners;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view showing the needle and thread-tying fasteners used for tying a" spring to the material;

Figure '8 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the material'showing a group of the fasteners in' circular arrangement for tying the springs ;v p

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration we have dis closed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a handle which may be. constructed of wood or other suitable material and havingv a longitudinal grooveli at. one side. thereof at its front end, the inner end of the. groove terminating in arecess 1 extending ratdially inwardlyof the handle. A needle 8 is seated in the groove 6 and is formed with an angular locking extension 9 atits inner end for entering the recess 1. The needle is held in .the groove 6 by a ring or ferrule l0 suitably secured on the front end of the handle.

The needle 8 is pointed at itsouter endas shown at I! and one. side of the .needle adjacent its outer end isformed. with a longitudinally ex-. tending recess l 2 with beveled end portions I3.

A longitudinally extending groove 14 is formed in the needle. forwardly'of the recess l2, and 8X: tending forwardly, from the front beveled end l3 of the recess. The front end of the groove I4 terminates in a rearwardly inclined recess or slot l5 of a depth greater than the depth of groove 14.

A thread'fastener designated generally at 16 is constructed of a strand of substantially rigid wire having its intermediate portion coiled to form a partially closed eye IT and with its front end formedwith a rearwardly inclined hook 18. The rear end of the fastener is inclined from the plane of the coil as shown at H! in a direction opposite from hook l'8, when the fastener is placed in recess I2. I V

Another thread fastener designated at ISO is constructed of a strand of substantially rigid wire having its intermediate portion coiled as at I10" to form a partially closed eye. The rear- Wardly inclineoljhook i811 issuppliecl for the same purpose as the'inclji'ned hook l'8. n t

Another alternative hook generally'indicated' at 260 is supplied'with an eye 210 and hooks '280 at each end thereof. Utility of any of, the. three thread fasteners may obviously be resorted to in accordance with the prerogative of the. userof the invention. p

A tufting thread 20 is inserted in the eye ll of the fastener by sliding the thread through the open side'of the coil anclthe coil 11 placed in recess 12 of the needle 8 and with the front end of the fastener seated in groove l4 and the hook l8 engaged in recess [5. The thread extends rearwardly alon the needle and a rearward pulling force exerted thereon by the fingers of a person holding the handle 5 and which thus holds the hook I8 in recess 15.

The rear beveled end I3 of recess 12 springs the rear end IQ of the fastener outwardly at the side of the needle as shown in Figure l of the drawings and the needle 8 is then inserted through the material 2| and carries the fastener l6 and thread with the needle. When the rear end IQ of the fastener passes through the material the same springs away from the side of the needle and the needle 8 is sli htly twisted or turned which releases the hook H! from recess l5 and the needle is then withdrawn as shown in Figure 3.

The thread 2n then holds the fastener is crosswise of the opening in the material formed by the needle and is then pulled tightly against the inner surface of the material by the thread and a tufting button may then be attached to the outer ends of the thread.

Fi ures '7 to 9. inclusive. illustrate the manner in which the tuftin needle 8 and fasteners 16 may be used fo tying a spring 22 to the upholstery material 23.

In usin the invention in this manner a D111- ralit of the fasteners I6 are se ured in position on the t read 24 and the fast ners w th the thread attached thereto are fed through the material in a circular arran ement as shown in Fi ures 8 and 9 in a manner to place the thread over the s ri and drawn tight to tie the spring to the material.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conj nction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be uite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A tufting needle comprising a handle, a. needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a relatively small recess and a relatively large recess at one side, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said larger recess, and a. hook at the front end of the fastener engaged in the smaller recess, said fastener being held to the needle when inserted through work by a rearward pulling force exerted on the thread and said fastener being automatically releasable from the needle for withdrawing the needle, and said fastener having an outwardly inclined resilient rear end engaging the work to obstruct withdrawing movement of the fastener.

2. A tufting needle comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a relatively small recess and a relatively large recess rearwardly of the small recess, a longitudinal groove in the needle connecting the recess, and said fastener comprising a wire member including an eye intermediate its ends seated in the large recess, a hook at its front end engaged in the small recess and having a straight portion between the hook and eye seated in said groove, said eye having a thread loosely inserted therein to hold the fastener in position at one side of the needle by a rearward pulling force exerted on the thread and said fastener and thread being carried through the work by the needle, said fastener being automatically releasable from the needle after passing through the work for withdrawing the needle.

3. A tufting device comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a relativel small recess and a relativel large recess at one side, said small recess terminating at its front end in a rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said larger recess, the front end of the fastener being inserted in the smaller recess, and a hook at the front end of the fastener disposed in the rearwardly inclined slot.

4. A tufting device comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a. relatively small recess and a relatively large recess at one side, said small recess terminating at its front end in a rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its end for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said langer recess, the front end of the fastener being inserted in the smaller recess, a hook at the front end of the fastener disposed in the rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener having an outwardly inclined resilient rear portion for engaging a surface of material after the needle and fastener have been passed through the material and when the needle is being withdrawn from the material to release the fastener hook from the slot thereby releasing the fastener from the needle.

5. A tufting device comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasable carried by the needle, said needle having a relatively small recess and a relatively large recess at one side, said small recess terminating at its front end in a rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said larger recess, the front end of the fastener being inserted in the smaller recess, the smaller recess being of such depth that the inserted front portion of the fastener is flush with the outer surface of the needle, and a hook at the front end of the fastener disposed in the rearwardly inclined slot.

6. A tufting. device comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a relatively small recess and a relatively large recess at one side, said small recess terminating at its front end in a rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said larger recess, the front end of the fastener being inserted in the smaller recess, a hook at the front end of the fastener disposed in the rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener having an outwardly inclined resilient rear portion for engaging a surface of material after the needle and fastener have been passed through the material and when the needle is being withdrawn from the material to release the fastener hook from the slot thereby releasing the fastener from the needle, and the smaller recess being beveled at its rear end to form a fulcrum to spring the outwardly inclined resilient rear portion of the fastener.

7. A tufting device comprising a handle, a needle anchored to one side of the handle, and a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the needle, said needle having a relatively small recess and a relatively large recess at one side, said smaller recess terminating at its front end in a rearrwardly inclined slot, and said fastener comprising a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for engaging a thread, said eye being seated in said larger recess, the front end of the fastener being inserted in the smaller recess, a hook at the front end of the fastener disposed in the rearwardly inclined slot, and said fastener having an outwardly inclined resilient rear portion for engaing a surface of material after the needle and fastener have been passed through the material and when the needle is being withdrawn from the material to release the fastener hook from the slot thereby releasing the fastener from the needle, the smaller recess being beveled at its rear end to form a fulcrum to spring the outwardly inclined resilient rear portion of the fastener, and said fastener being held to the needle when inserted through material by a Lrearward pulling force exerted on the thread.

8. A tufting device comprising a handle, a

needle fixed to said handle and having its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle, a thread attaching fastener releasably carried by the handle, said needly having a recess in one side thereof, a, groove communieating withsaid recess and on the same side of the needle as the recess, a rearwardly inclined slot opening into said recess, said thread attaching fastener comprising {a wire member having an eye intermediate its ends for holding a thread,

said eye being disposed in said recess, a part of said wire member :being releasably disposed in said groove and having a hook at the end thereof, said hook being reanwardly inclined and disposed in said slot so that when said needle and said wire member is passed through a piece of material the hook is pressed firmly into the slot, but when said needle is withdrawn, the upper end of said wire member engages the lower surface of the material thereby releasing the hook from the slot.

WILLIAM HEARST.

GRACE PLACKE'IT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 116,087 Ostburg June 20, 1871 683,655 Mersch Oct. 1, 1901 1,731,556 Wren et a1. 1 Oct. 15, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 104,275 Sweden Apr. 14, 1942 

